


Two and Two Together

by Szarka



Category: Atom Man vs Superman (1950), Superman (Kirk Alyn Serials)
Genre: Gen, Jimmy Finds Out, Lois Finds Out, Minor Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Post-Canon, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 07:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Szarka/pseuds/Szarka
Summary: In Chapter 8, Lois and Jimmy basically admitted that they knew all along who Superman really was. Than that whole storyline somehow went unresolved. So here is a story set just after the events of Atom Man vs Superman where the three of them finally sit down and talk things through.





	Two and Two Together

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I have this bad feeling that most of you don't know the serial this was based on. Go on and look it (and the previous one!) up, they are great.
> 
> 2) The one thing that I really dislike about Superman is his treatment of Lois and Jimmy. They are his friends and they do everything they can to help him, and he still lies to them repeatedly and does a whole lot of unnecessary over-the-top things with the sole purpose to deceive them. URGH, SOMEONE JUST TELL HIM OFF ALREADY!

 

 

It took Lois two days to bring it up again.

They offered the inactive synthetic kryptonite to the Metropolis Museum, because it looked almost exactly like the real thing, but was completely harmless. In exchange, the Daily Planet got to publish an exclusive about it, complete with an interview with the head of the astronomy’s department.

Apart from the restoration work going on all over the city, most annoyingly right at the doors of the Planet building, everything went back to normal. Superman received an official thank you from the chief of the police, and Perry White managed to chew around for a few more weeks on the whole Atom Man story and it's follow-ups. Metropolis's scientific institutions (the museum, the university, the observatory, and the other university) threw themselves at Luthor's inventions like hungry birds of prey, and refused to say anything to the press, wanting as much of the credit for themselves as they could get. Clark Kent went first of all things for a walk in the park and treated himself a piece of cake at Tony's, than slept for longer than he had in weeks.

The problem was, Lois Lane wasn't as easily over their latest adventure this time. The next day, Clark couldn't quite shake off the impression that she was staring at him more than usual. Lois had these moments from time to time, so he was mostly used to it, but it still had something very unsettling about it. By lunchtime, he had gotten to the point where he almost asked her if he had accidentally stolen her favourite pen again. (it really hadn't been on purpose, he'd tripped and swept everything from his desk while colliding with her, causing Lois to drop her notebook and the six pens she'd happened to have in her hand. Clark had been in too much of a hurry to clean his mess up, so he'd collected the wrong pen, and only noticed his mistake when the next day, she confronted him, calling him a thief, and that loud enough for the whole office to hear, forcing the rest of their colleagues to try to hide their grin. They didn't succeed. Since that day, Clark carefully marked his pens, so he'd recognize them at once.) Instead, he asked her and Jimmy if they wanted to go and get a burger with him.

Jimmy agreed, but Lois had brought her own food, because she still had two stories to write that she didn't want to gift to anybody, and was planning on staying at her desk until they were finished.

« Well, just don't forget to take time to breathe. », said Clark, and they left.

By some miracle, Lois _did_ finish her stories that day, even if she had to stay a little longer. The next day, they went out for an assignment again. Have a look at the flooded villages and how they are recovering, and get an interview from the head of the organization helping them. Lois and Clark went alone, because Jimmy was busy documenting the damage caused by the artificial earthquake.

They met with Mr. Fernand a little further upstream, and rode with him in his car to the territory that was still underwater.

« You both covered the flood, am I right? »

Mr. Fernand was a head shorter than Clark, but with a sun tanned skin and muscles that proved of a life spent in the open with hard work. He was dressed like a farmer rather than a city man, and was quite open about what he thought of the latter.

« We are grateful, we received a lot of donations because of you. One usually has the impression that we could all go up in thin air, and you city people wouldn't notice until you run out of milk. »

« I grew up in a village, I know the feeling. », said Clark.

« Well, than you can imagine how bad this is! », exclaimed Mr. Fernand. « This year's harvest's gone, with all the reserves. Many have lost most of their livestock, too. And that is without mentioning the obvious, their houses, tools, and all they had in it. We don't keep most of our money in a bank here, you know. »

« We used to have a cookie jar in the back of the cupboard, behind the sugar. »

He still had that jar, he'd taken it with him when he left for Metropolis. He couldn't have left it behind had he tried. That jar was too important because of what it had stood for during his childhood. Money. Sweets. Gifts. A significant part of the savings of the family Kent had been kept in there at any time. But their real wealth had been outside, under the form of corn and trees, seed and cattle.

« See! » Fernand tapped on the wheel. « All gone! »

They arrived at the improvised camp at the side of the flooded terrain. It was huge, harbouring the families from five villages and the cattle they'd managed to save, a quickly erected wooden cabin for each of them, with some space around it for the animals.

« How long are they going to stay here? », asked Lois.

« 'Till the water goes away at least. Than however long it takes to rebuild their farms. This isn't going to be fast, nor easy. »

« And what do you want to say to the readers in Metropolis? » Lois had taken out her pen and notebook and was energetically taking notes now. Clark looked around and saw only people in need of help. They were the people he'd grown up around. Not the same faces, but lives and values that could have been that of any of his neighbours. He couldn't do much, at the moment. He should have used his chance during the flood better. He could at least have saved a few more cows…

« To remember where their food comes from and to donate to our helpline. You have the address? Good. »

They spent the next hour or so interviewing random people and taking a few pictures. Clark already regretted how much they would have to cut.

« You're awful quiet. », said Lois after they had thanked Mr. Fernand for his time and got back in the Daily Planet car.

« What? Oh. I was just thinking about those people, Lois. »

« Yes, it is terrible, isn't it? » But her next thought cheered her up again. « Still, it would have been much worse had it not been for Superman! »

« Superman didn't do that much this time, Lois. » Somehow, he'd had more urgent worries.

There was this problem with Lois and Superman: She admired him too much to think really critically about him. She wasn't exactly alone, either, most people seemed to be only too happy to have someone they could all adore, and went on to ignore everything he did wrong. Most of the time, this was convenient for Clark: Superman hadn't made any alto grave mistakes yet, and the public's willingness to rewrite him made him seem flawless, and thus further away from the mild-manner reporter from the Daily Planet. And it scared the criminals and would-be criminals. Or challenged them to commit even more clever crimes, depending on which ones you were talking about. But it also meant that nobody took Clark Kent seriously when he pointed out something he _had_ done wrong. They only accused him of being jealous of Superman.

« He still saved a lot of people. Sometimes, you really have a strange opinion of him, Kent. »

« I'm just saying the facts, Lois. Superman could have done more. »

Lois shrugged. « Sure, but than, that burning oil plant would have exploded. Admit it, Kent, there are situations that are too big for one man, even if he's Superman. Hey, that could be a good title, _Too Big for Superman_. Say, I was wondering if you liked to meet with me and Jimmy after work? »

« Of course, Lois. What are your plans?

« Shopping, mostly, but it is more fun if you don't do it alone. »

Clark laughed. « All right, but only if you promise not to stop in front of every other window! »

 

 ***

 

Lois _did_ stop in front of every other window, but at least had the decency to do so only _after_ they all had bought the most important items. Clark was too proud to admit how much fun he was having, pointing out the stranger objects and joking about women and their shopping addiction with Jimmy. Lois only rolled her eyes and reminded them that they were both doing exactly the same thing as she was, which they of course loudly denied.

« Of course you _men_ wouldn't know what fun was if it stomped on your toes. », shot she back.

They ended up in Tony's diner eventually, with bags full of groceries at their feet.

« I hear that that was a busy week for you Planet people. », said Tony in his usual friendly tone while taking their orders.

« Oh, you can say that again! » answered Jimmy.

« Superman told me all about it. He's my friend, you know. »

« We know, Tony. », smiled Lois.

Nobody ever took Tony seriously when he was talking about his friend Superman, but they all still enjoyed listening to his stories. And making fun of them, of course. Clark was fairly certain that the diner owner did it mostly to entertain his customers.

« I wonder if he's right. Maybe he does know Superman. », added she in a much lower voice as soon as Tony had left with their order.

« Well, if he does, than I am sure that Superman likes him very much. », said Clark. It wasn't a difficult guess, _everybody_ liked Tony, and Superman liked everyone.

« But maybe he doesn't even know that it's Superman. », continued Lois.

« Oh-oh, I don't like where this is going. », said Jimmy. Clark silently agreed.

« Maybe Superman only comes here disguised as a human. »

« That's it, I'm out of here. » Jimmy started to get up, but Lois held him back.

« Oh no, Jimmy, you don't. We're in this together. »

« In what together? », asked Clark. He had a _very_ bad feeling about this. In the previous weeks, Lois had come much closer to finding out his secret than she ever should have. She'd even written that article for White… Or had she? His memories from inside the Empty Doom were a little bit hazy. It had been a strange place, maybe he'd been hallucinating.

« Mr. Kent, where have you been when Superman had gone missing? »

Not a good direction, at all.

« I've already told you, Lois. I was following Superman, and got caught by Luthor, who sent me away with him. I don't remember anything else, except that when I came by, Superman told me that he found me in the Empty Doom, and brought me back with him. Without him, I'd be dead. »

« You really do have an excuse for everything, don't you? »

Terrible direction.

« Lois, you are not making any sense, do you know that? »

« All right than: Mr. Kent, don't you think it is a little suspicious that you are Superman's main contact person, yet we _never_ see the two of you in the same place at the same time? »

What made Lois so dangerous was that she had been an investigating reporter for way too long now, and was an expert in getting answers out of people. Clark knew that. He knew her strategy, which was to ask brutally direct questions, and try to get her victim to spontaneously answer them.

« But you are often there with us when we get in trouble. Than you _a_ _l_ _ways_ disappear shortly before he arrives, and only reappear after he's left. You know what he found out almost immediately, and he knows what you think, even if it is based on new evidence. Apart from that, there were many situations since we know you that just don't make any logical sense. »

If the direct question strategy didn't work and she had enough background information (which was almost always the case, Lois Lane did her homework), she heaped evidence on them until they cracked and admitted the truth.

Clark was spared from an immediate answer by Tony who arrived with their dinners. He put the plates on their table, asked them to please not to hesitate calling him if there was anything else, and left. The three reporters bent closer to each other over the table at once.

« Lois... »

« Mr. Kent, are you Superman? » She didn't even wait for an answer before she continued. « Because if you are, you'd better tell us before your next disappearance. We are both sick and tired of covering for you. »

« She's right, the least we deserve is an explanation. », joined Jimmy her. « We go through all that trouble helping Superman, the least you could do is be honest with us. »

« But I am honest with you! Really, you are being ridiculous. »

« It is a lot less ridiculous if you think a moment about it. », said Lois seriously.

« Yeah, even Perry White noticed! », added Jimmy.

« He made me write an article about it. »

So the vague memories about helplessly watching his friends work against him weren't a trick of the mind after all. Clark felt his stomach drop. Tony's excellent chicken salad somehow lost all it's appeal from one moment to the next.

« We only managed to stop it from being published in the nick of time! »

Clark was well aware that he couldn't hide his hopeful surprise.

« You did? »

«  _O_ _b_ _viously_ , since it wasn't in the paper! » Lois rolled her eyes. « I wrote it, than Jimmy called and pretended to be you, so White killed it. But it was close. »

He most certainly could not hide his relief, either.

« So please excuse us for not wanting to go through _that_ again. Either you tell us the truth, or next time, we _will_ publish the article. »

Clark knew Lois well enough to know that she meant every word of her threat. That would at least cost him his job, even if he could somehow talk himself out of it. Which wasn't very likely, Lois Lane could be incredibly convincing. Enough evidence had she, that much was sure. Superman's secret would be out, and Clark Kent would loose any chance of a normal life. He would have to ask for money for his help, and Metropolis or even Washington would give it to him, but that would mean giving up every freedom of decision he had at the moment. His powers were too dangerous to be trusted that the government wouldn't abuse them sooner or later.

Those were the selfless heroic reasons for keeping Superman a secret. The selfish human ones were that Clark liked his life. He was happy. He had a nice apartment not too far from his workplace, a job he liked and colleagues he enjoyed spending time with. He liked spending time with Jimmy and snatching stories from Lois, he enjoyed just wandering around in Metropolis just as much as he loved flying over it. He liked being imperfect, something that Superman couldn't afford to be. And yes, he also loved being the perfect hero that everyone adored, but it was not the same, and giving up on his ordinary life would be a too big sacrifice.

Clark Kent took off his glasses.

He didn't look at his friends, and put them back on almost immediately, but it was enough. He could hear Jimmy breath in sharply and could almost feel Lois's stare. Suddenly, he was very interested in his salad, even if he didn't really notice it's taste.

« So I _was_ right. », whispered Lois after a long silence. « You _were_ lying to us. »

Clark wasn't quite sure what he had expected. Lois admired Superman, everybody knew that. She was friends with Clark Kent, even if she still loved to pretend not to like him. He had _hoped_ that she'd be happy to find out that they were the same person. As to Jimmy, he was good friends both with Clark and with Superman, so maybe he'd be thrilled to be let on in his big secret? Of course, his father had always told him to hide his differences, because people wouldn't accept them, and the more Clark saw of humanity, the more he realized how right he had been.

Not knowing what to answer, Clark remained silent. So did Jimmy and Lois. They ate the rest of their dinner in awkward silence, and when they left, Tony commented on how sour all the sudden their faces looked.

« I hope it isn't because of my food! »

« No, your food has been delicious. We just had a disagreement... » Jimmy shot a quick glance at Clark and Lois, « ...about work. »

« Ah, work! », exclaimed Tony. « Always count on work to ruin your day! »

« Jimmy, Lois… You… You won't tell anyone, will you? », called Clark after them when they'd already separated.

« Oh, no, Mr. Kent. » Lois's tone was bitter. Clark couldn't see her face, because she hadn't bothered turning around. « We spent far too much time trying to hide your secret for you to ruin it now. »

 

 ***

 

That all happened on a Friday. Clark wasn't quite sure if that was good, because it meant not having to go anywhere near Lois or Jimmy for two days. Or bad, because it also meant two days of suspense without knowing how his life would change. On days like this, he really missed his mother. She'd always known just the right thing to say if he'd embarrassed himself at school again. Talking with her certainly would have helped. Instead, he did the next best thing, finished the two incomplete articles he still had lying around, than flew to the floated territory and asked politely if there was anything he could do to help. Mr. Fernand was much less friendly with Superman than he had been with Clark Kent (probably too much city spirit incorporated), but was too clever to say no to such an offer, and so Clark spent his weekend with heavy lifting and other muscle work. He didn't get tired and it wasn't intellectually challenging enough to keep him from thinking, but at least he was doing _something_.

Sleeping on the other hand proved to be much more difficult. After turning and tossing himself around in bed for a few hours, Clark got up, changed into his costume, and flew out of the window.

He soared higher and higher, until Metropolis was spread out under him like a giant blanket woven of lights, and higher still, up where the air was all thin and cold. Than he sped out on the open sea, away from everything, and only slowed down when Metropolis's lights had all but disappeared behind him, and he was all alone. He dove down, let gravity take over in a controlled fall that made the wind tear on his cape as he got faster and faster, and only slowed down just in time not to crash into the cold water. Than he floated a little higher, somewhere where he could still hear the waves, and looked up to the sky. It was full of stars in a way that Lois and Jimmy, children of the city, could never even dream of. Or maybe they could, they were newspapermen after all, surely they'd spent a night away from artificial lights at some point. But that would have been a one time wonder, not something natural just a few minutes away, like for Clark.

He couldn't tell later how long he'd been floating there, nor what exactly he was thinking about. He'd let his mind wander, turn into some vague daydreams about sharing this view with somebody, who, for some reason, had the face of Lois Lane. He could carry her in his arms… Or, as time passed, and the dream changed, she could fly herself, in some strong little machine they knew nothing about yet, but some crook had certainly already invented to better access the Metropolis Bank. Something without propellers would be nice. Like a motorbike, but flying… And than the picture changed again, and Lois was floating next to him of her own power, her hair waving behind her in the wind. She had starlight in her eyes, and a mischievous look, and Clark _knew_ that she was going to challenge him for a race. They would chase each other around in the air, and laugh, laugh loud enough for it to be heard over the sound of the wind in their ears, even for humans. Than turn back and fly home, slower, enjoying together the quiet beauty of the sea and the view of their city, that slowed down at night, but never slept.

Clark sighed. He had been alone in these things all his life, and he'd gotten used to it. These daydreams were understandable, but futile. Even if Lois and Jimmy knew about him and accepted his two identities, even if they became his accomplices and shared his adventures, they couldn't follow him up in the sky. These dreams, he would never be able to share.

 

***

 

Monday morning started with Clark knocking over his coffee and having to change at superspeed (he was lucky to be immune to heat, or he would have burned himself), and a traffic jam that made him run from the bus stop to the office, only bursting in in the very last minute not to be late with his articles. Neither Lois nor Jimmy greeted him, and Lois even asked Perry White politely if she couldn't go with Jimmy on her assignments for some time, because she had had a minor fight with Clark. She got the permission, and Mr. White asked him for a word in private. He let him wait while he looked for his lighter, than gave it up and put his cigar to the side.

« Do you want to tell me what happened between you two? »

« It has nothing to do with work, Mr. White. », assured Clark him. Mr. White sighed.

« Kent, of course it has to do with work, since it is impacting the way two of my reporters interact. »

Clark shifted uncomfortably.

« Yes, sir, I understand. I tried to keep something secret from her, and she found out. »

« Important? »

« In a way. »

White picked up his cigar, and turned it in his hands.

« Kent, that was stupid of you. There is one thing you need to know about keeping secrets from women: Don't. They always find out. »

« So it seems, sir. »

« So, what are you going to do? »

« I don't know, sir. »

White pointed his cigar at him.

« Than let me give you an advise: Apologize. Buy her some flowers and say that you're sorry, women _love_ that. Just don't let it interfere with your work, understood? »

« Yes, sir. And thank you, sir. For your advise. »

« Any time, Kent. »

Clark all but fled out of the office.

 

***

 

The rest of the morning went by pretty quietly, up until 11.38, when Clark heard Lois call for help.

She and Jimmy hadn't returned yet, and it was a relatively harmless assignment, so he could only guess what trouble she'd gotten herself into now. As he had done countless other times, Clark hurried into the storage room, got changed, and flew out of the window to find her.

There had been an accident. Lois and Jimmy were not involved, but it was far enough from the nearest hospital to make it questionable whether an ambulance could be there in time or not. Superman picked one up and flew it to the scene of the crash, let the medics load in the injured driver, than picked it up again and flew back, carefully paying attention to hold the vehicle as steady as possible. The whole didn't even take five minutes.

When he got back to the place of the accident, Lois and Jimmy were just finishing taking some pictures. Superman landed next to them. They ignored him.

« The doctors say that he is going to make it. », said Superman tentatively. « Lucky that you two have been there. »

« Why don't you just stop with the masquerade already, Mr. Kent. », said Jimmy bitter. « We all know that you just want to compliment yourself. »

That blow hurt, and Clark Kent would have probably shown it, but Superman couldn't. Superman remained friendly.

« Please don't call me that, Jimmy. Not while I'm in costume. »

« Whatever. », muttered Jimmy. « Why bother. »

« Thank you for your help, _Superman_. », said Lois, and before he could answer, they both climbed into the car and drove away without as much as a look back to the red and blue figure standing there next to the wrecked car and watching them go.

 

*** 

 

Superman had some more appearances during the week, all of which Clark Kent dutifully phoned in and was rewarded for with a « Good job, Kent. » from Perry White and an angry look from Lois Lane. Lois and Jimmy still weren't talking to him any more than absolutely necessary, and that affected the work climate enough for all their colleagues to be complaining about it by Wednesday. Thursday afternoon, Mr. White called all three of them into his office, and told them to please solve their problem, whatever it might be, or he would solve it for them.

That night, Clark went for another flight, but this time land inwards, following the railroad as the city buildings turned into rand-of-the-city buildings, that gave place to fields. He didn't have to, but tracing back the way he'd taken when he'd first come to Metropolis felt somehow like the right thing to do, and besides, he wasn't exactly in a hurry.

Smallville hadn't changed. To be honest, Clark couldn't even imagine that it ever would. It had been quite a long time since he'd last visited his childhood home, having no reason to and a million other things to do, and like every time, he had the feeling that it had been a mistake not to.

It… Felt like home. Given Superman's abilities, he didn't have much of a problem keeping the house from falling into neglect, even if the fields were far from what they had been when his parents were still alive. It wasn't the first time that Clark decided to _do something_ with the farm, sell it or at least rent it, but he couldn't bring himself to yet. Later. He had all the time in the world.

He landed right at the front door, opened the locks, and entered.

There was far too much dust again. Clark really had the feeling that he never was done with the cleaning (same was true for his apartment, _where did all the dirt come from?!_ ). He wandered through the house looking for something he couldn't quite name, finding only the same objects as always, the things he had left behind when moving to Metropolis.

His parent's clothes and other personal belongings without high sentimental or material valour. And of course his own old school material, toys, and… the few notebooks he had used for everything a boy would use notebooks in his free time for? He hadn't touched those in years.

They were a colourful mess, containing everything from pictures cut out of newspapers over drawings to a couple of story snippets that had been intended to be the beginning of some great and grandiose book. They were about pirates and monsters and hidden treasures, about friends and adventure and true love. Clark found himself lost in them, watching a past version of himself dream them up, like all the little boys did at one point or another, and how they grew and evolved with him. It brought back memories of summers of getting up early and helping his father with his work, or just playing with the farm animals. Of exploring the village and the surrounding grounds, looking for adventure. Games that had been fun and only seemed strange in hindsight, like trying to lift the heaviest things he could find and looking for hidden objects in the haystack. It felt both close and centuries ago.

Clark run out of notebooks and put the last one next to him on his old bed.

He had always loved to help, already back than. And he'd been bold, almost reckless, worrying his mother no end. And curious about the world away from the farm that he read about, be it imaginary, past, present or possible future. Maybe he'd known subconsciously that his limits were not that of a normal human, or maybe he really was just very bad at evaluating danger. He had been the odd one out of the children at his school, and only had a few close friends. Three or four over his childhood, if he remembered correctly, but he had held on to those with all his power. None of them knew about it when his parents had told him his true origins.

Slowly, an idea started to emerge in his head.

Clark put back the notebooks, and closed off the house. He collected quickly some flowers in the front garden, and stopped by at the cemetery to place them on his parent's grave. He promised them to _really_ come and lean up the house, if not that weekend, than the next, and flew home.

 

***

 

« Jimmy, can I talk to you and Lois for a second? »

The two reporters exchanged a glance, than Lois very dramatically stopped typing.

« Fine. », said Jimmy. « What is it? »

Clark looked around. The others were all working, but he somehow had the bad feeling that they were all ears.

« About… the… thing. », said he finally.

« I'mverysorrythatIliedtoyouandwouldliketoexplainwhy,soIthoughtthatmaybeifyouarefreethiseveningyoucouldbothcomeover? »

He could have sworn that Lois almost smiled.

« Of course, Mr. Kent. We'll be there. »

« Yeah, sure. », agreed Jimmy.

 

***

 

The rest of the day passed so slowly that Clark begun to get seriously worried about something being wrong with time. But it did pass, and suddenly Jimmy and Lois were standing at his door, and he realized that he had no clear idea what to say to them.

He had dismantled the Spider Lady's organization and beaten Lex Luthor. _Twice._ He could do this, too.

« So, what did you want to tell us? », asked Lois before he could start with the formalities.

« Everything. », answered Clark truthfully. « I figured you'd probably have a lot of questions, and it would be better to answer them? »

« Now whatever gave you _that_ idea? »

« You always have a lot of questions, Lois. »

« I don't think she was being literal, Mr. Kent. »

They stood in silence for a moment.

« Why don't you…. just… sit down? » proposed Clark.

Lois pulled out a chair. « How very considerate of you, Kent. »

Jimmy sat in Clark's armchair. « So, what's the story? »

Originally, Clark had hoped not to have to structure everything himself.

« Aren't you going to ask… ? »

« No, Mr. Kent. I want to hear what _you_ have to say. »

« Me too. », nodded Lois.

« Right... » Clark took a moment to regain some composure, than hurried to his bedroom to fetch the family photo album. He ended up taking the one with the Metropolis pictures, too.

Lois and Jimmy were sitting in his apartment, waiting for a good reason for so obviously not trusting them. They probably never would talk to him again if he couldn't give them one. Better not to think about it.

« Eeeeeeerm… Did I ever show you a picture of my parents? »

He received no answer, so he took it as a sign to continue. He opened the album at the last photo he had of them, the three members of the family Kent standing in front of their house on their last spring together. Lois and Jimmy bent closer to have a better look.

« This was a few weeks after they told me who I really was. You see, they were not my real parents at all, they'd found me when I was a baby. »

He turned back the pages to another photo, Pa and Ma Kent with a baby in arm, their faces screaming “proud parent”.

« My mother couldn't have children on her own, but she'd always wanted some. One day, they were driving in their car and this huge meteorite crashed right next to them. Only that it wasn't a meteorite, it was a rocket, and I was in it.

Of course they couldn't tell anyone about it. They just took me home, and told everyone that they had adopted me because my real mother died. »

He turned the pages. The little boy got older. The pictures showed a happy, ordinary family.

« What happened to your rocket? », asked Jimmy. Lois still looked sceptical.

« It exploded just after they got me out. There was nothing left. It was already burning when it crashed, I was lucky to have been protected by a blanket. »

« And nobody asked any questions? »

« Not really, no. It became more difficult when I got older and we noticed that I could do things others could not. My father always made sure that I knew I had to keep them secret. There were a few times when… it was close. But my parents always found some explanation or a distraction, and with time, I learned how to, too. I was always a little odd, I didn't have too many friends, that helped, too.

They told me the story shortly before they died, and they said that they wanted me to use my powers to do good. I figured, if I became a reporter, I would always know if there was an emergency. »

« Well that worked out marvellously, didn't it? », muttered Lois.

« I wouldn't have thought that the people needed a Superman this much, that's for sure. »

« So how does this explain why you lied to us? »

Again, Clark wasn't really sure what to answer. He'd hoped that Lois and Jimmy would be happy about him taking the initiative and talk to them, maybe they'd understood why it was so important to keep Superman a secret?

« I'm… not sure. »

Lois crossed her arms.

« Look, Lois… I know I shouldn't have lied to you… But it really is important that nobody knows, do you understand? And you are a reporter, you... »

« Ah, don't bother! », snapped she.

« You really think we would betray your secret? », asked Jimmy.

« Well… Yes? »

« After all the trouble we've been through trying to hide it for you? »

« I didn't know about that, did I? »

« Exactly, Mr. Kent, _you didn't know_! Maybe if you had been a little less focussed on yourself and your heroics, you'd have noticed! But you didn't did you? To you, we are just some… Oh, I don't know! »

«  _Sidekicks_ , Jimmy? », helped Lois him out. « Someone to do the dirty work for him and only needing to be saved from time to time? »

« No, Lois, it's not... »

« Because we are not your _friends_ , obviously! _Friends_ trust each other! _Friends_ don't lie to one another all the time! _Friends_ don't play with each others emotions! »

« I really don't... »

« Oh, don't you?! All those times we've been talking about Superman, and you just sat there! _YOU KNOW I LIKE HIM!_ »

Her outburst was followed by almost a minute of silence.

Clark didn't quite know how to look at her. Yes, he knew that she liked Superman, everybody did. Except maybe Superman. Because the truth was, he wasn't good enough for her. Not Superman, but certainly not Clark Kent. Being her friend was almost more that what he deserved.

« And what now? », asked he finally.

« Honestly, Kent, I don't know. »

Short silence again.

« Erm… Would any of you like a drink? »

The productive part of the discussion was clearly over, and Lois and Jimmy recognized Clark's attempt to buy them all some more time to think. They accepted, and Clark fled to the kitchen to make a tea.

He took his time, and was still finished much faster than he'd wished. He found some cookies in the cupboard and arranged them neatly on a plate, but than there was nothing more he could procrastinate with, and he had to return to his friends.

They had been talking. Clark could hear every word in the kitchen, but had made conscious effort to tune it out, so he didn't know what they had said.

He waited until they all had their cup. « What do you want from me? »

« What do you mean? », asked Lois.

« Well, now my secret is out, I figured that maybe you'd ask me to leave the Planet, or... »

Apparently, this surprised both her and Jimmy.

« Quit your job? Why would we want that? »

« I… don't know. I couldn't exactly blame you for not wanting to see me ever again. »

They needed a little moment to process this. Strange, it was a logical assumption.

« Is that what your father has been telling you? », asked Lois finally. Her voice sounded softer, even if the difference was so small that Clark wasn't certain it could be heard with human ears. « That people wouldn't want to talk to you any more if they knew that you are Superman? »

« Not exactly, no. Keeping Superman a secret was my idea… He told me that I am different, and humans don't like different and would be afraid of me. Or at least treat me differently. And you do have every right to be angry, so... »

« But we don't want you to leave! », exclaimed Jimmy. « We just don't know for sure how to trust you after this, Mr. Kent. »

« How do we know that there isn't anything else important you're hiding? », agreed Lois. And, almost as an afterthought, except that Clark knew her well enough to see how keen she was on an answer: « Are there any more like you? »

« No. », said Clark. « No, from what we've understood, I am the only survivor of Krypton. I am alone. »

Jimmy had finished his tea, and picked up the second photo album, the one Clark had started when he'd moved to Metropolis. Most pictures had been taken by him, and Clark had asked for a copy. There were one or two of Superman, yes. The one where he'd posed in mid-air, and the one with Lois, where they had spent way too long looking for the right spot and a good angle. But most were of Clark Kent: Pictures of the city that had turned out well, photos Jimmy had taken on special occasions, silly pictures he only took to to fill up the roll or make sure that his camera was working. The last one was the one from Lois's birthday party, where all the co-workers from the Planet were standing around a cake. Clark was next to Lois, a knife in her hand, both smiling happily.

After a moment, Clark realized that they were all three staring at the picture.

« It feels like ages ago. », said Lois.

« Doesn't it? », agreed Clark.

 

***

 

« … and find me Clark Kent and Lois Lane! »

Perry While angrily moved some papers on his desk, hoping beyond all reason to maybe find his lighter after all. Around him, the Planet building was alive and busy like a colony of ants, hurrying after their job. Outside, Metropolis was bursting with life, and he almost could hear the firemen on their way to the school whose entry hall has collapsed, trapping everyone inside.

Maybe it was a late effect from the Atom Man, who'd weakened the structure of the building without anyone knowing. Maybe the building was just old. Thanks to a fantastic stroke of luck, nobody was seriously injured, at least not as far the police knew, and, _goddamit, where were those reporters_?!

The door opened, and James Olsen and Lois Lane hurried into his office.

« You called for us, chief? »

Perry took his cigar out of his mouth.

« Damn right I did. There is an emergency over at… Where is Clark Kent? »

Olsen and Lane exchanged a look.

« He said he couldn't come. », said Olsen.

« Yes. You see, I asked Clark to help me with the research about that man who is accused to have murdered his fiancé, and he himself still needs to look some things up for his own article. », explained Lane. « It is very important and can't wait, and it'll probably take him the whole afternoon. Couldn't I cover this one with Jimmy, sir? »

Perry bit back a curse. That Kent was an excellent reporter, did great work and never missed a deadline, but sometimes he was unfindable just when you needed him the most.

« All right, you and Olsen got it, but I want pictures! _Good_ pictures, is that understood? »

Lane and Olsen replied with a quick « Yes, chief! », and hurried out of the office. Perry put his cigar back into his mouth, and turned on the radio, police wavelength.

« … Superman just arrived at the scene, he's helping to clean the way... »

Superman again. Well, in that case, the people inside the school had nothing to worry about.

Perry just hoped that Olsen and Lane wouldn't be too late and miss the entire story. Once Superman got there, he tended to solve the crisis at hand pretty fast. They were all very lucky that he seemed to like the reporters of the Daily Planet for some reason, or they would miss all the scoops.


End file.
